Genesis 1:1

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Genesis 1:1

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Genesis 1:1
1:2 →
The first chapter of Genesis (B'reshit in Hebrew) written on an egg in the Israel Museum
Book	Book of Genesis
Hebrew Bible part	Torah
Order in the Hebrew part	1
Christian Bible part	Old Testament
Order in the Christian part	1

Genesis 1:1–5

Genesis 1 verses 1–5 sung in Hebrew as a cantillation

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Genesis 1:1 is the first verse of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and the opening of the Genesis creation narrative.

Text

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The Hebrew is as follows:

Vocalized: בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ‎
Transliterated: Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz.

Bereshit (בְּרֵאשִׁית‎): "In [the] beginning [of something]". Be is a prepositional prefix, reshit is a noun, "beginning". The definite article ha (i.e., the Hebrew equivalent of "the") before reshit is missing, but implied.^[1]
bara (בָּרָא‎): "[he] created/creating". The word is in the masculine singular form, so that "he" is implied; this verb is used only for the God of Israel.^[2]
Elohim (אֱלֹהִים‎): the generic word for God, whether the God of Israel or the gods of other nations; it is used throughout Genesis 1, and contrasts with the phrase YHWH Elohim, "God YHWH", introduced in Genesis 2.
et (אֵת‎): a particle used in front of the direct object of a verb, in this case "the heavens" and "the earth", indicating that these are what is being "created".
Hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz (הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ‎): "the heavens and the earth"; this is a merism, a figure of speech indicating the two stand not for "heaven" and "earth" individually but "everything"; the entire cosmos.^[3]

It can be translated into English in at least three ways:

As a statement that the cosmos had an absolute beginning ("In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth").
As a statement describing the world's condition when God began creating ("When in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was untamed and shapeless").
Taking all of Genesis 1:2 as background information ("When in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, the earth being untamed and shapeless, God said, Let there be light!").^[4]

Analysis

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Genesis 1:1 forms the basis for the Judeo-Christian doctrine of creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo). Some scholars still support this reading,^[5] but most agree that on strictly linguistic and exegetical grounds this is not the preferred option,^[6]^[7]^[8] and that the authors of Genesis 1, writing around 500–400 BCE, were concerned not with the origins of matter (the material which God formed into the habitable cosmos), but with the fixing of destinies.^[2]

References

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Citations

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^ Blenkinsopp 2011, pp. 30–31.
^ ^a ^b Walton 2006, p. 183.
^ Waltke 2011, p. 179.
^ Bandstra 1999, pp. 38–39.
^ Day 2021, p. 3.
^ Blenkinsopp 2011, p. 30.
^ Nebe 2002, p. 119.
^ Clifford 2017, p. unpaginated.

Bibliography

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Bandstra, Barry L. (1999). Reading the Old Testament: An Introduction to the Hebrew Bible. Wadsworth Publishing Company. ISBN 0495391050.
Blenkinsopp, Joseph (2011). Creation, Un-Creation, Re-Creation: A Discursive Commentary on Genesis 1–11. T&T Clarke International. ISBN 9780567372871.
Clifford, Richard J (2017). "Creatio ex Nihilo in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible". In Anderson, Gary A.; Bockmuehl, Markus (eds.). Creation ex nihilo: Origins, Development, Contemporary Challenges. University of Notre Dame. ISBN 9780268102562.
Day, John (2021). From Creation to Abraham: Further Studies in Genesis 1-11. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-0-567-70311-8.
Nebe, Gottfried (2002). "Creation in Paul's Theology". In Hoffman, Yair [in Hebrew]; Reventlow, Henning Graf (eds.). Creation in Jewish and Christian Tradition. Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 9780567573933.
Waltke, Bruce K. (2011). An Old Testament Theology. Zondervan. ISBN 9780310863328.
Walton, John H. (2006). Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Baker Academic. ISBN 0-8010-2750-0.

Preceded by -	Book of Genesis	Succeeded by Genesis 1:2

Genesis 1

Noted verses

Genesis 1:1
2
3
4
5

Divine figures

Creation

Creationism	Young Earth creationism Old Earth creationism Day-age creationism Gap creationism Progressive creationism Framework interpretation Creatio ex nihilo Special creation

Phrases

"In the beginning"

Tohu wa-bohu (original translation)

"Let there be light"

"According to its kind"

"Image of God"

"Be fruitful and multiply"

Characters

Adam and Eve
- Adam
- Eve

v t e Book of Genesis
Primeval history (1–11)	Genesis creation narratives (1:1–2:3, 2:4–25) Adam and Eve Fall of man (3) Serpents in the Bible Cain and Abel (4) Genealogies of Genesis (5:1–6:8, 11:10–26) Genesis flood narrative (6:1–9:28) Sons of God Noah's Ark Curse of Ham (9:20–27) Generations of Noah and the origin of nations (10:1–11:9) Tower of Babel (11:1–9)
Patriarchal age (12–50)	Abraham (12–23) Abraham and Lot's conflict Battle of Siddim (14:1–17) Covenant of the pieces (15) Sodom and Gomorrah (19:1–28) Isaac (21–35) Binding of Isaac (22) Jacob and his sons (25–50) Jacob's Ladder (28) Jacob wrestling with the angel (32:22–32) Joseph and the coat of many colors (37–50) Blessing of Jacob (49)
Notable verses	1:1 In the beginning 1:2 1:3 1:4 1:5
Torah readings	Bereshit (1:1–6:8) Noach (6:9–11:32) Lech-Lecha (12:1–17:27) Vayeira (18:1–22:24) Chayei Sarah (23:1–25:18) Toledot (25:19–28:9) Vayetze (28:10–32:3) Vayishlach (32:4–36:43) Vayeshev (37:1–40:23) Miketz (41:1–44:17) Vayigash (44:18–47:27) Vayechi (47:28–50:26)
Sources	Priestly Jahwist Elohist
Analysis	Framework interpretation Allegorical interpretations Wife–sister narratives Arcana Cœlestia Pesher on Genesis
Manuscripts	Papyrus Berlin 17213 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 656 Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1007
Text	Textual variations

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